When Alysa Binder and her husband, Dan Wiesel, loaded their pet Jack Russell terrier,Zoe, into a plane’s cargo hold, the poor dog emerged traumatized. “She came out and just wasn’t herself,” Wiesel said.

So the couple did the obvious thing: They started their own airline, aptly called, Pet Airways and it combines empathy for pets with some cool services.

For starters, pet owners walk their pets onto the plane. No pet carriers. The creatures are fed an all-organic meal and walked before boarding..and on cross-country flights, the pets get a “walkover,” presumably along the aisle.

The 50-passenger plane flies in and out of regional airports (Chicago, New York, Denver, Washington DC, and Los Angeles), and Fido and company have secured carriers where seat recliners would be.

The company hopes for service to 25 American and Canadian cities and just started flying this year.

The fun web site (http://www.petairways.com) lists prices and services: $199.00 New York to Chicago; $299.00 New York to Los Angeles..and a host of other services like Pet Tracking software in case you want to know where your pet is at any given moment and what they might be seeing out the window.

The company has other useful services like preparing your pet for travel, tips, and the services of Lassie’s own veterinarian, Dr. Jeff Werber.

It’s a business, say the owners, and “Profitabilty will be determined by occupancy…that covers the cost of the flights and overhead.’

We think it’s a great idea and we suspect any lapses in service will elicit lots of growls!